Jess Ennis said she thinks the accusation that she is "fat" is ridiculous. She laughed off the reports that a "high ranking person" in UK Athletics had told her coach, Toni Minichiello, "that she's got too much weight", saying "it's definitely a funny one. But it's not an issue".

For Ennis, the comments were just another distraction that needed to be shut out as she tries to concentrate on the task in hand, in Götzis and, ultimately, in London. "I obviously see things. Things come up on Twitter and I read things," she said. "But I try not to focus too much on reading all the articles just kind of get on with it, I laugh it off really." Twitter, she says, means that she "can't get away from anything, because people just put your name tag in and it comes up. So yeah, I see it all".

Ennis said she had prepared herself for the extra scrutiny she will be subject to in an Olympic year, and that had shaped her reaction when she saw the story on Friday morning. "It's not just sports journalists that are interested; it's all the different journalists across the different boards. I came into this year expecting different things to happen, different articles and things like that. So it's not such a shock when you read things like that." So she was able to "brush it off" with a smile, a laugh, and a quick "no comment" or 12.

Minichiello's relationship with UK Athletics has been strained at times in the past, simply because he has brought Ennis through on his own since she was a 11-year-old. They are a close pair, with a good understanding of what works for them, and do not need a great deal of outside guidance.

"I'm an easily frustrated individual," he said. "And my support of Jessica is huge, having had a relationship since she was such a young age. My problem is that I am defensive of that and of her and sometimes that can come out in the wrong way. I hope people understand my motivation behind and that it is aimed to be for the best even though quite often it is not perceived in that way."

Anyone would think that calling Ennis overweight is ludicrous. "That," Minichiello replied, "makes two of us."